Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5437941 — Rent arrears at 46 Cypress Drive, Maungaraki, Lower Hutt 5010
Decided 30 Apr 2026 · Published 30 Apr 2026 · Application 5437941
- Rent arrears
- 14-day notice
Party names are redacted in the official published order.
Order
- An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of landlord’s name and identifying details.
- Mack Pedebone, Mapuni Pedebone, Alec Pedebone, Nelson Pedebonemust pay [The applicant/s] the sum of $28.00 immediately.
- The application for rent arrears and termination is withdrawn.
Reasons
- The landlord attended the hearing. An attempt to reach Ms Pedebone by phone went to voicemail.
- The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy, rent arrears and refund of the bond.
- Section 55(1)(a) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) says that if the rent is at least 21 days in arrears on the date the landlord files an application for termination, the Tribunal must terminate the tenancy.
- Non-payment of rent is a serious breach of the tenants’ obligations under the tenancy agreement and under the RTA.
- The landlord filed a rent summary which shows that when the application was filed on 4 February 2026, the tenants owed $5,200. That is 42 days’ in arrears. Therefore, the Tribunal must terminate the tenancy.
- Section 55(2) says that the Tribunal may refuse to make an order if, but only if, it is satisfied that the breach has been remedied, the landlord has been compensated for any loss arising from the breach, and it is unlikely that the tenant will commit any further breach of a kind to which this section applies.
- The tenants have now paid the rent arrears, so they have remedied the breach. The final payment was made yesterday.
- Looking at the tenants’ history of falling behind on rent arrears, and in the absence of any explanation from the tenants, I am not satisfied that it is unlikely that the tenant will commit a further breach. That means that I must terminate the tenancy. However, the landlord has decided to withdraw the application for termination on this occasion.
- The tenants must understand that a tenancy may be terminated for rent arrears even where the rent owing is less than 21 days. The parties are encouraged to look at the provisions of section 55(1)(aa) and section 56 of the Act as well as information on the Tenancy Services website.
- If the rent falls behind again, the landlord may decide to make a further application, and this order may be relevant to the Tribunal’s decision on any future application for termination of the tenancy.
- It has taken about 12 weeks for the tenants to pay the 6 weeks’ rent that they owed the landlord. The landlord has been out of pocket all this time. It should not have taken an application to the Tribunal for the tenants to honour their legal obligation to pay rent. I have therefore ordered reimbursement of the filing fee of $28.00.